Water Island Capital LLC Buys New Stake in The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN)

Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 973,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,711,000. Water Island Capital LLC owned about 3.09% of Aaron’s as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new position in Aaron’s in the second quarter valued at about $8,379,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Aaron’s by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 807,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,056,000 after purchasing an additional 164,392 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aaron’s by 12.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 759,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,585,000 after acquiring an additional 81,910 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aaron’s by 139.7% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 392,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,916,000 after buying an additional 228,678 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Aaron’s by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 350,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,502,000 after acquiring an additional 18,035 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AAN. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.10 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Aaron’s in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Aaron’s in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.10 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aaron’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.46.

Aaron’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AAN opened at $10.05 on Monday. The Aaron’s Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.62 and a 1 year high of $11.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $316.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.72 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.78.

Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $503.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $513.91 million. Aaron’s had a negative return on equity of 2.08% and a negative net margin of 2.06%. Aaron’s’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Aaron’s Company, Inc. will post -0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aaron’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.98%. Aaron’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -63.29%.

Aaron’s Company Profile

Headquartered in Atlanta, The Aaron’s Company, Inc (NYSE: AAN) is a leading, technology-enabled, omnichannel provider of lease-purchase solutions. Aaron’s engages in direct-to-consumer sales and lease ownership of furniture, appliances, consumer electronics and accessories through its approximately 1,300 company-operated and franchised stores in 47 states and Canada, as well as its e-commerce platform, Aarons.com.